What Does Judges 19:10 Mean?
But the man would not lodge that night, but he rose up and went away, and came opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two donkeys saddled, his concubine also was with him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.THE KEY
A place can bear the name of wholeness while the traveler has only reached its edge.
THE MEANING
A decision to keep moving carries everyone and everything joined to the traveler along with it. Here, the man rises and goes toward Jebus, named as Jerusalem, with his concubine and two saddled donkeys beside him.
THE ROOT
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
Be whole, complete, sound.
Jerusalem carries the root of wholeness in its name. The traveler reaches the place’s edge; the name’s wholeness is present, but the verse does not say that these companions are at rest.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, wellbeing.
שָׁלוֹם
The root makes the wholeness carried by Jerusalem’s name audible.
shalem: Whole, complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch gives the root’s sense of intactness and completeness.
לָלוּן
lalun
GROWS FROM
לון
lun
Lodge or pass the night.
“would not lodge that night” in this verse is lalun. The Hebrew phrase names lodging through the night. The man refuses that kind of staying, then rises and goes; the movement begins with a refusal of overnight shelter.
ALSO GROWS
lin: Lodge, pass the night.
לִין
This verb form shows the same root sense of staying overnight.
malon: Lodging place, inn.
מָלוֹן
This noun makes visible the place associated with lodging overnight.
THE PATTERN
Scripture carries the language of wholeness from Salem’s name, to prayer for Jerusalem, to the vision of New Jerusalem.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was the priest of God Most High.Ask for the wholeness of Jerusalem; those who love you are at ease.And I, John, see the set-apart city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, made ready as a bride arranged for her husband.THE THREAD
Ask for the wholeness of Jerusalem; those who love you are at ease.Psalm 122:6 places “peace” beside “Jerusalem,” making the name’s root connection audible. In Judges, the traveler has come only opposite the named city; the psalm lets the language of wholeness surface alongside Jerusalem.
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